The U.S. Senate voted early Saturday to confirm Todd Blanche as attorney general, placing President Trump’s former defense lawyer at the helm of the Department of Justice. The confirmation passed with a narrow 50-49 margin, highlighting the significant political divide surrounding his appointment.
Blanche’s path to confirmation was secured after Louisiana Republican Senator Bill Cassidy announced his support on Friday. With Senator Mitch McConnell absent, Cassidy’s vote proved decisive, offsetting the opposition from GOP Senators Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, who joined all Democrats in voting against the nominee.
Following the vote, Blanche expressed his gratitude on social media, stating he was “deeply honored by the trust and confidence President Trump has placed in me to lead the Department of Justice.” Blanche previously served as deputy attorney general and had been acting attorney general since April, following the departure of Pam Bondi. President Trump formally nominated him for the permanent position in June.
The confirmation process was marked by intense scrutiny regarding a $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund established by the Justice Department. This fund was part of a settlement agreement reached in May to resolve a $10 billion civil lawsuit filed by Mr. Trump against the IRS concerning the disclosure of his tax returns. Lawmakers also raised concerns over a provision in that settlement granting broad immunity to the president, his family, and his businesses from future tax audits.
During his June confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Blanche declared the “anti-weaponization” fund “dead” and committed to halting the program. He later reached an agreement with Senators John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina to rescind the May directive and narrow the scope of the immunity deal to cover only specific tax returns for the president, his two eldest sons, and the Trump Organization.
This compromise allowed Blanche to advance from the Judiciary Committee in a party-line vote on Tuesday. However, his nomination remained contentious. Senator Collins cited the “eroded” independence of the Justice Department due to the tax immunity and fund issues as the primary reasons for her opposition.
Before entering the administration, Blanche served as a key defense attorney for Mr. Trump in several high-profile legal battles. He represented the president in the New York criminal trial where Trump was convicted on 34 counts of falsifying business records related to hush-money payments. Additionally, he was part of the legal team defending Trump in two federal cases led by special counsel Jack Smith—one involving the 2020 election subversion allegations and another concerning the handling of sensitive government documents. Both federal cases concluded following Trump’s election to a second term.
Blanche’s tenure as deputy attorney general also drew criticism regarding the handling of files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The department released over 2 million files, but faced backlash for including unredacted personal information of survivors. Blanche admitted “mistakes were made” during the release process.
While Blanche met with Epstein survivors last month at the urging of Senator Tillis, the encounter drew mixed reactions. Some survivors criticized the meeting as a “check-the-box exercise” intended to bolster his confirmation prospects rather than address their concerns, with some advocates calling on the Senate to reject his nomination entirely.
Blanche narrowly won approval from the upper chamber in a 50-49 vote.
But Blanche faced headwinds during his confirmation, as Democrats and some Republicans took issue with the Justice Department’s creation of a $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund to provide payouts to people who allege
Trump in his criminal case in New York state court that stemmed from a $130,000 “hush money” payment his lawyer made to an adult film star before the 2016 election.
But he still faced skepticism from two key Republicans on the panel, Sens.
He needed a simple majority of votes from the full Senate to be confirmed attorney general.
Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, Blanche could only afford to lose support from two Republicans and still win approval from the upper chamber.
In his role as deputy attorney general, Blanche oversaw the Justice Department’s release of more than 2 million files from its investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and met with Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s longtime associate who was convicted of sex-trafficking crimes, last year.
After their meeting, Maxwell was transferred from a low-security correctional facility in Florida to a minimum-security prison camp in Texas.
